INTERESTING FIGURES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16916, 31 January 1917, Page 2

INTERESTING FIGURES.

"There appears to be some misunder-" standing in the public mind as to the levy that has been made upon the public wealth by tlicsj Acts that have been passed since the war began." said the Acting Prime Minister (the Hon. J. Allen), in a statement to the press in Wellington on Friday. _" I think the public are entitled to some information, so that they may come to the right conclusion upon the matter. It is easy for them to bo misled by want of accurate information. " Since tho outbreak of tho wax the Finance Act, 1915, increased the T ate of income tax by extending tho graduated rate from Is 4d in', the pound to 2s in tho pound. And in addition it imposed a further super-tax of 33 1-3 per cent, on all income tax. The Graduated Land Tax was at the same time increased by a super-tax of 50 per cent, on land other than that used for business purposes. " The Finance Act of 1916 re-enacted tho above increased rates, and imposed an additional tax of 6d in the pound where an assessable income in excess of £300 does not' exceed £900, and a tax of Is in the pound where such income exceeds £900. "A further excess profits duty of 45 per cent, is also imposed on the excess of income over the year ending March 31, 1916, over the standard income which may be taken from one of the three years ended March. 1912, 1913, and 1914. "I want to call attention to tho words ' excess profits,' and ' excess income.' Our taxation is not upon the war profits alone; it is upon the wa,i' profits and any other profits that may be made, and is, therefore, in many instances, very much higher than the tax on excess war profits. " Tho effect of the increase made by the Finance Act, 1915, is shown by a comparision of the land tax and income tax collected for the years 1914-15 and 1915-16 (as under): — 1914-15. 1915-16. Land tax ...£799,641 £1,045.356 . Income tax ... 540,318 1,392,119 Totals ...£1,339,959 £2,440,476 " I have asked for some specific instances from the Tax Department," added the Minister, " and these are definite cases of the effect of tho operation of the Act of 1916, as compared with results of 1914-15:— Collected To bo collected 1914-15. 1915-16. £ £ 4180 32.500 940 9.170 460 25,600 1860 48,800 40 6,340 1390 5,240 5 550 200 1,120 "I don't want to say any more," said the Minister. "Let the public read the figures and judge for themselves."